By Fate Or Will
by amethyst-key
Summary: It wasn’t that Tifa thought that she and Cloud didn’t belonged together; it was just the concept of “soul mates”. When she was younger, she might have thought about or seriously considered it, but… now?


**A/N: **I'd like to thank my beta, Qwi-Xux, for dealing with the mess that my fanfiction is at first. She is incredibly awesome, and I suggested her work if you enjoy Cloud/Tifa. This piece was written for Springkink on LiveJournal. Enjoy!

**Warning: **Kissing. That is all.

* * *

"_Yuffie…_" The name was an exasperated sigh threaded with scolding as it passed through tight lips.

"What?" Yuffie asked, leaning back on her stool.

Tifa looked over the bar top and tilted her head. "Are you being serious?"

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "Of _course, _I'm being serious!"

Tifa sighed and bent down to open the cupboard underneath the counter. "Don't you think its a little crazy?"

"What?"

Tifa straightened, a rag in hand. "Do you _really _think that Cloud and I are _soul mates?"_

Yuffie threw her hands up into the air as if she were asking the gods for their divine help. "_Yes! _That's what I've been saying this entire time!"

"_Yuffie…_" Tifa sighed and turned to the sink, soaking and wringing out the cloth before returning to the counter.

"Cut it out, Tifa! I really am being serious!"

When Yuffie had brought it up – this concept of soul mates – Tifa had thought it to be just another strange idea she had gotten from a romance book or maybe even some ancient myth out of a scroll she had stumbled upon in Wutai, but those theories were quickly being disregarded. At first, Tifa had been listening, but didn't really contribute to the conversation, content to simply let her friend ramble on about destiny and the gods' choices when Yuffie said something about her and Cloud that had caught her attention.

Her eyes were wide and she stared at Yuffie in surprise. "Wait, what did you say?"

Yuffie froze, mid sentence. "I said, 'Soul mates _do _exist – you and Cloud'."

Tifa floundered for words. "Yuffie… soul mates aren't real."

Yuffie laughed like it was obvious. "Oh, yes they are! You and Cloud."

"Yuffie, that's ridiculous!"

"Is it?"

"_Yuffie…"_

And that's where they were – sitting in the bar, one feeling foolish for even considering the concept, and the other greatly determined to impress upon her friend how real soul mates truly were.

Tifa glanced up at Yuffie, but continued her work. "_Why _do you think soul mates exist? What makes you think that Cloud and I are two of them?"

Yuffie gave her a look that clearly stated she thought Tifa to be the most oblivious being on Gaia. "Tifa, you and Cloud have gone through too much to _not _be soul mates! Do you know how many obstacles and problems you two have survived that any other couple would have thrown the towel in if they would have gone through them?"

Tifa knew. She knew very well. There had been the separation when they were younger, his wish to join SOLDIER, Sephiroth, geostigma, Zack and Aerith, the guilt, and every other intervention that had been caused by outside parties and the planet that _should _have ruined their relationship, but hadn't. All these things had tortured them, beat them down, and threatened to absolutely tear them apart… but in the end all those "obstacles and problems" had made their relationship stronger and forced their grip on one another tighter.

It wasn't that Tifa thought that she and Cloud didn't belonged together; it was just the concept of "soul mates". When she was younger, she might have thought on or seriously considered it, but… now?

The look on Yuffie's face was so serious, that Tifa stopped her organization and finally regarded her friend with a look that told her she was listening.

"I don't know, Yuffie. The whole concept of soul mates is..." She searched for the right word.

"Strange?" Yuffie offered.

"Yes!"

"Don't you ever feel like you're connected to Cloud in a way that's more than normal?" Yuffie pressed, leaning across the bar top.

Tifa hesitated, before nodded.

"Or… do you ever feel like you've known Cloud for longer than you really have? That maybe you two should have been together forever, instead of how long it's really been?"

"Don't tell me you think we've been reincarnated, too!"

Yuffie gave a rueful grin. "Okay, maybe it's too early for the rebirth theory… but don't you ever feel that way?"

Tifa couldn't deny it. She set her elbows on the counter and leaned against them, giving a reluctant nod.

"Don't you think that it means something?"

"I don't know—"

The low growl of Fenrir's engine cut through their conversation as Cloud pulled into the garage. Tifa's head turned expectantly towards to the door connecting the bar and the house. Cloud never stayed in the garage long once he got home, only taking enough time to divest of gloves and goggles, check Fenrir quickly for any markings, and to pull First Tsurugi out of its compartments. He'd go out to work on his motorcycle after dinner sometimes, but the hours after he immediately arrived home were solely for Tifa and the kids.

"Even if soul mates _don't _exist, Tifa, you and Cloud are as close as anyone is going to get," Yuffie said after Fenrir's engines were shut off. Tifa turned back to her friend, her mouth open to respond. Yuffie held up her hand. "Just think about what I said, okay?"

"Yuffie—" The sound of the door that lead from the garage to the house opening and closing caused Tifa to halt.

Cloud stepped into the bar, his body relaxing and eyes softening once they settled on Tifa. Giving the bar a quick scan, he shrugged his pack off, leaving it by the door, and strode to the counter. He pressed his lips gently to Tifa's temple in greeting, before turning to Yuffie and nodding his hello.

"Spike," she said, nodding back.

Giving Tifa another peck – this time on the lips – he retreated upstairs to shower and change, leaving the two women alone once again.

Yuffie hopped off her barstool and bent down to picked up the large shuriken that rested against the bar. "I'd better go; I've got some errands to run." Strapping the weapon onto her back, she made her way to the door. "Say 'hi' to Marlene and Denzel for me once they get home from school."

Tifa nodded. "Alright, see you later."

"Think about what I said, Tifa." With a quick wave, Yuffie swept out the door.

Left on her own, Tifa's mind mulled over what Yuffie had told her.

_Soul mates… _could they really exist? She supposed anything was possible-

She shook her head, trying to dislodge the thoughts from her mind.

The sound of the shower stopped and several minutes later Tifa heard footsteps on the stairs. Glancing back over her shoulder, she watched as Cloud pushed through the doors of the bar, skin clean and clothes fresh.

He strode forward until he was at her back and gentle hands came up to rest on either side of her waist. He bent down and nuzzled her neck, a smile on his lips. "Hmm…" he hummed, wrapping his arms around her. "How was your day?"

She turned in his arms, smiling. "Good, uneventful."

He raised an eyebrow. "With Yuffie here?"

Her grin widened as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Yes, believe it or not."

"You didn't leave her alone with our materia, did you?"

She laughed. "No."

Glancing around them at the bar, he inquired, "Ready to open?"

"Almost, I just have to bring in some cases of Corel wine from the storage room."

"I'll help."

"Thanks," she said.

"Do I have to get them now?" he asked, his hands trailing upward to brush along the edge of her tank top, the corner of his lips rising and his eyes turning a dark blue.

She swallowed involuntarily and shook her head. "No."

"Good."

As his lips returned to her neck and her body went boneless against him, she decided it didn't matter if soul mates existed, or if her and Cloud were even two of them. All that mattered was that they were together, whether that it was by divine will or by sheer force of love and determination.

They had fought through struggle after struggle, and they had ended up with each other. They were happy… happier than either one could remember in their lives, and knew that no matter what would come their way next – because something would always come – they would face it together, hand in hand.

Tifa did agree that they had gone through too much for what was between them to _not _be something more. Throughout their lives their love had thrived. It had gone through its times when it retreated behind bouts of insecurity and misunderstandings, but it had always emerged again, stronger and better and _more. _That didn't prove Yuffie's soul mate theory, but it was certainly something.

All she knew was that it wasn't their love that had survived the pain of their lives, but instead, it was what had gotten them through it all.

Clutching strands of golden hair between her fingers, she reached up and pressed her face into the crook of his neck. "I love you… so much."

Surprise colored his face for a moment before his expression melted into one of softness and love. He pulled back a little before lightly covering hers lips with his. "Love you, too."


End file.
